The Stranger
by coldfusion9797
Summary: Cammy and Klaus attempt to solve the mystery of a stranger who wanders into their lives. Set when Klaus has been in New Orleans for a couple of years.
1. Chapter 1

The buildings are tall and everything smells so...unnatural. Bright lights shine in the night. He walks beside the road because if he walks on the road he might get run over. The ground under his feet is hard, and again, it's unnatural. As he walks the humans who pass him give him strange looks, well, he is a stranger here. They all hurry past him, except this one. A woman with pale hair approaches him, she smells...agitated. She peels off her outer layer of clothing- "here, take my coat," -her _coat_, and wraps it around him. He welcomes the warmth it gives.

"What's your name?" she asks. He doesn't know. He doesn't speak. She waits for an answer she's not going to get and then seems to realise it's not important. She wraps her arm around his shoulders and presses him to walk alongside her. "What happened to you?" she questions, but still he doesn't speak.

xxx

She brings him to a house and then to a room. In the room a fire burns, it makes him nervous to see the orange flames leaping, what stops the fire from burning everything?

She leads him to a seat and when he sits she peels the coat off his shoulders so it pools around his waist.

"Are you hurt?" she asks, as she surveys his face, arms and chest. He watches her face, the way her eyes dart about and the serious way she holds her mouth as she searches for a wound she's not going to find; it's not his blood. She appears to reach that conclusion and she looks at him with the first traces of fear in her eyes. But she doesn't need to fear him; she's not a threat so he won't hurt her.

"It's not your blood," she confirms softly for herself, standing and walking away from him. He stands, intending to reassure her, and the coat falls to the floor. He goes to her and wraps his arm around her shoulders, he'd felt comforted when she did that to him.

"What are you doing?" she asks in shock and moves away from him. He watches her, waiting for a signal about what to do next. He feels like he's on the right track, he'll find answers here, but he has no idea how to do that.

_Pain, crippling pain. Bone-shattering, organ-tearing pain. Excruciating bodily pain followed by awareness. And then rejection. _We don't want you anymore.Go away, you're different, you're_ wrong. How? Why? With the awareness comes a longing. South it says, head south. So he does, there must be somewhere he's not different._

He's pulled from the memory by a new voice.

"Cammy," it says and a man walks into the room. He has a smile on his face, that is until he sees the stranger. His tone remains pleasant enough but his eyes harden as he asks the question. "And who's this?"

"I don't know," she admits and the man gives her an incredulous look. Eventually the man looks to him for answers, but the stranger has none to give and seeing he won't get an answer, the man directs his questions to the woman.

"Why would you bring him here?" the man asks, pulling the woman- Cammy- aside.

"I found him wandering the streets, naked and covered in blood, he was drawing attention. And he looked like he needed help, so I helped him. Besides," she said, turning her head to glance at him, "he kind of reminds me of you." She finishes with a smile, and it makes the man's expression soften towards her but harden when he looks in the strangers direction. "I think he's in shock, or something," she continues, "he hasn't said a word since I found him. He just watches..."

"I'll get some answers," the man says, advancing towards him with hostility. The stranger's lips curl back in a snarl and instinctively he raises his fists to fight.

_Fury, flesh, blood, fear. Snarls and claws. Jaws clamp together, teeth pierce a warm, furred throat. The smell of hot blood, whimpering, then stillness. Victory. _

"Klaus stop," Cammy says, putting herself between them. The stranger backs down, he doesn't want to hurt Cammy. The man- Klaus- backs off too. "This isn't helping," Cammy tells Klaus, "let's clean him up and get him some clothes and try this the civilised way first."

"Fine," Klaus concedes. She turns to the stranger.

"Would you prefer a shower or a bath?" she asks and he has no idea how to answer that.


	2. Chapter 2

He watches Cammy twist the silver handle on the wall and water rains down. She continues to fiddle with the handles, moving her hand in and out of the water.

"There you go," she says, "that's nice and warm. Just use whatever soap or shampoo you like," Cammy continues, directing his attention to a collection of brightly coloured bottles. "I've left some clothes and fresh towels over there for you." She points to a pile of folded material and then takes her leave. He sheds the robe Cammy gave him and steps in under the flow. The water drums pleasantly against his bare skin and Cammy was right, it is warm. He scrubs himself and watches as the water escaping down the drain turns red as he becomes cleaner.

_Bones crack and muscle tears. Pain from within. It's to be expected. Cold fingers in his chest. Pain from without. Panic. Fortunately there's enough of the other one left to sink fangs into its throat. _

Once he's clean he turns the tap the opposite direction to the way Cammy had, and the flow stops.

He steps out of the shower, suddenly cold now the water's stopped and quickly picks up a towel. He rubs it over his skin, resisting the urge to shake, and the soft, thick material absorbs the water from his body. He manages to dress himself, using the memory of the way Klaus was dressed to guide him. When he's done he looks up to see there's someone else in the room. The man looks directly at him but doesn't say anything. He takes a step forward and so does the man. He lifts his hand and so does the man. He touches his face and so does the man. It's a reflection, like on a still pond, and it's _his_ reflection. Intrigued, he studies his face, he's never seen himself like this before. His eyes are the colour of honey, his skin is pale and his hair is a dark silver, flecked through with black and white. He has a strong brow and full lips and he can see the resemblance Cammy spoke of.

He leaves the room in search of Cammy. He finds her in the room with the fire and Klaus is with her. He lingers silently in the doorway to watch them.

"Where's Nicolette?" Cammy asks Klaus.

"I left her with Elijah," Klaus answers.

"Klaus," Cammy says disapprovingly, "it's a full moon."

"I know," Klaus sighs, "but he's so much better with her than I am, I don't have his patience."

"Well I won't argue with that," Cammy says with a smile.

"Puppies try anyone's patience," Klaus says in his defence.

"Klaus!" Cammy says feigning horror and hitting him playfully, "she's not a puppy, she's your daughter."

"I'm aware of that, but for tonight at least there is no denying she _is_ a puppy." A child and a puppy? He has to see her. A sound bubbles up in his throat and spills over his lips.

"Nicolette." At the sound of his voice Cammy and Klaus turn their attention to him. They are shocked at first but it wears off quickly and Klaus doesn't look happy.

"What?" Klaus growls.

"Calm down Klaus," Cammy says, putting herself between them.

"I'll calm down when he tells me why he said my daughter's name." Cammy holds her hand up to stop Klaus coming closer. The stranger isn't sure why Klaus is angry, he only wants to see the child, what if she's like him? Cammy turns to him with a smile.

"I was beginning to wonder if you could talk. Maybe you can tell us who you are?"

"Who you are?" the stranger says.

"Yes," Cammy says hopefully, "what's your name?"

"Your name?"

"It's alright," Cammy says patiently, "you can tell me."

"Can tell me."

"That's enough," Klaus cuts in, "he's not talking, he's just parroting, he has no idea what you're saying." That's not true, he just doesn't know how to form the sounds for the words that he needs to reply, but he's learning. Reluctantly Cammy accepts Klaus' words.

"Alright, I don't think we're going to get any answers tonight," Cammy concedes. "I think it's best if we just go to bed."

"I'm not leaving you here alone with him," Klaus states.

"So stay," she says with a smile she saves just for Klaus. She's clever, it's a way to get what she wants and keep Klaus happy.

"I'll call Elijah," Klaus says. Cammy leads him to a room with a bed. He climbs in under the covers and rests his head on the soft pillow. "Maybe you'll feel more like yourself in the morning," is the last thing Cammy says before he hears a click and the room goes dark.


	3. Chapter 3

Cammy is woken by the ringing of Klaus' phone. He stirs beside her and reaches over her to pluck the phone off her bedside table, he probably put it there so he'd have to lean over her to reach it, not that she's complaining.

"What," he answers, not bothering with niceties, he's in charge, he doesn't have to. There is no one who will call him on his rudeness, well except herself and maybe Elijah. Klaus' initial annoyance fades as the seriousness of what the person on the other end of the line is telling him sinks in. What could it be this time? "I have a fair idea, I'll deal with it." He ends the call. She doesn't have to ask. "That was Adam. They found Clay in the Garden District this morning with his throat ripped out."

"He'll be ok?" It's not an irrational question when dealing with vampires.

"No. He's dead, the wound didn't heal. Adam said it should have, but it didn't. He was attacked by someone and I have a pretty good idea who." She sees his resolve hardening as he says the words, but it makes no sense.

"How would he do that? He's not a vampire."

"I don't know," Klaus says as he hastily pulls his clothes on, "but I intend to find out." Cammy doesn't like the look on his face, he's about to do something rash. She scrambles out of bed and pulls her robe on in time to follow him through the door. They burst through the door into the room where she put the stranger to bed last night, Klaus intent on doing whatever it takes to get answers and Cammy in the hope of protecting the helpless man. They both come to an abrupt halt when they see he's not here. Where could he have gone? There is however a suspicious lump under the covers and Klaus rips them back to reveal a ball of silver fur. The wolf is curled up, sleeping. Cammy backs away as the wolf raises its head and looks at them, Cammy's eyes meet its familiar, honey-coloured ones.

"Is that..." is all Cammy manages to say but Klaus will understand what she means. As if in reply to her question the wolf stands, its ears erect, eyes unblinking. It's an attempt at an assertive stance but the effect is ruined when it trips on the clothes it's wrapped in, the clothes she gave to _him_.

"What does it mean Klaus?" she asks, her first thought is werewolf, but the timings all wrong. Klaus will know, he's been around for a long time.

"I'm not sure..." he says with genuine puzzlement. Well if he's stumped, then this must be something highly unusual. When Cammy pushes her shock away, she remembers the stranger and this is still him, she still wants to help him. There was something so familiar about him. She pushes her fear down and approaches him, holding her hand out and speaking soothingly like she would to a dog, it's hard not to see him as an animal now.

"Cammy, be careful," Klaus says but she knows how fast he is, he won't let anything happen to her. The wolf stretches his head towards her and sniffs her hand, and is apparently satisfied as it licks her hand. She ventures further, sliding her fingers under it's chin and then behind it's ears. The wolf allows it, more than that, it seems to enjoy it and the rest of her fear slips away. His fur is the same grey his hair was.

"See?" She says to Klaus, "just a big puppy dog." Klaus gives her an unimpressed look. Gently she frees it from the clothes and it- he- springs from the bed onto the floor. As he trots through the door into the next room his claws click on the floorboards.

"Now what?" Klaus says as they follow the wolf into the living room. They watch him sniff his way around the room, like any dog would, and Cammy has the overwhelming urge to keep him.

"I'm keeping him," she tells Klaus.

"You don't even know what he is," Klaus argues, "he could be dangerous, most likely _is_ dangerous. I think I should just kill him, it's safest that way."

"No, it's not right, he doesn't deserve it."

"You don't know that, he probably killed Clay." Cammy opens her mouth to defend the wolf but her attention is drawn to the door. Elijah opens it and Nicolette runs into the room ahead of him, all pink frills and golden curls.

"Dad, Dad, Dad," she says in that sing-song way toddlers have, as she heads for Klaus with her arms outstretched.

"Nicolette," he says excitedly, mostly for her benefit, but he does smile genuinely at her as he steps towards his daughter to pick her up. At the same time the wolf comes around the corner of the couch and halts upon seeing the little girl. Nicolette sees him at the same moment and stops, her father forgotten for the time being. Klaus tenses, ready to snatch her up or kill the wolf, but Cammy rests her hand on his arm, nothing's going to happen, he won't hurt the girl, Cammy's sure of it.

"Pup!" Nicolette declares, "pup, pup, pup!" and then she throws herself at the wolf, her arms sinking into the thick fur around his neck. The wolf does nothing more than sit, allowing Nicolette to bury her face in his fur.

"Aww," Cammy croons, unable to help herself, they make an adorable picture. Klaus looks dumbfounded.

"She prefers a dog to me?" he manages to say eventually. Cammy doesn't bother to point out that he did dump her off on Elijah only twelve hours ago.

"The terrible twos," Elijah chuckles, "it's why I brought her over here. She was screeching that she wanted her father. I guess she got over it," he finishes with a shrug.

"Guess we'll have to keep him now," Cammy says.

"That's not their decision to make," Klaus says, leaning down and attempting to pick Nicolette up. She screams at the top of her lungs and clings to the wolf for dear life. The wolf snarls at Klaus until he lets go of his daughter and backs off.

"That went well," Elijah says, unable to hide his amusement.

"You sure about that?" Cammy says to Klaus, her attempt at hiding her amusement about as successful as Elijah's.

The wolf and the girl stare at up at Klaus defiantly, honey and ice blue eyes unblinking. This is one war it appears Klaus will not win.


End file.
